Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

 

She was broken from her morbid thoughts by another chime and vibration from her cell.  She withdrew it from her pocket to see that Chris had replied.  He’d texted earlier to see if she wanted to help him with some training plans for the third years.  His current response stated he was free any time after classes got out at three. 

 

She lifted her head to check the alarm clock on her nightstand, surprised to see it was already one in the afternoon.  Her stomach chose that moment to corroborate how late it was with a loud growl.  She tapped out a quick response that she would meet Chris in the class training room at three.  Then she fired off a text to her brothers to see if they’d had lunch yet.  Lance got back to her almost immediately, saying they were both already at the cafeteria.  It concluded with a “Get your a*s down here,” which made her smile. 

 

She drew herself off the bed and returned both her scanner and knife to their usual places on her nightstand before making her way down to the cafeteria.  She loaded a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich and a few other delicious looking foods before heading for the tables.  She was pleasantly surprised to see Tom and Hans sitting with her brothers in the back right corner of the room.  “Hey guys,” she greeted with a nod and a smile as she set her tray down and took a seat between Jace and Tom. 

 

“How’s your day off going so far?” Lance asked casually before taking a sip of his drink.

 

Her heart sped up a fraction, and she took a bite of her sandwich to give it time to return to a normal pace.  “It’s going well,” she finally replied.  “Did some sword work with Jared this morning, and I’m meeting up with Chris later to help with some workout plans for the third years.” 

 

“Do you ever stop working?” Hans joked, and the whole table laughed.

 

“Of course I do!  I just love being in the sword ring,” she qualified with a grin.

 

“No one could ever doubt that,” Jace chimed in. 

 

“Well, I think you need to take a night off tonight and come out with us,” Tom declared.

 

“What exactly did you have in mind?” Jace asked.

 

“Carnival,” Hans responded with a wicked grin, rolling the foreign word through his German accent. 

 

“Carnival �" as in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil?” Lance verified, and when he saw their answering nods, he continued, “Oh, hell yes!” 

 

Irin’s eyes gleamed at the prospect of spending a night down at Carnival.  The idea was too tempting to pass up.  “I’m in,” she stated, earning a round of “That’s our girl!” from the others. 

 

“I don’t know, guys,” Jace’s less than enthusiastic voice cut in, bringing the mood down several notches.  Irin’s and Lance’s eyes snapped to him in confusion.  “We’re back at the top of the roster at midnight.  It wouldn’t be very good if we got called in while surrounded by crowds of people in Brazil,” he explained, and Irin barely kept herself from rolling her eyes.  Jace could be too responsible at times, it seemed.

 

Lance, however, had no qualms and rolled his eyes openly.  “Dude, Rio’s four hours ahead of us.  We could head down, party most of the night and be back before midnight even strikes here,” he countered with a smirk.  Irin looked back at Jace to see if he had a rebuttal. 

 

“And when we’re exhausted on the job tomorrow?”

 

“We’d be exhausted no matter what if they called us in during the middle of the night,” she jumped in, and Jace eyed her critically.  “You don’t have to come if you really don’t want to,” she continued, but she could tell from his expression that he did want to. 

 

Jace looked around at all the excited and encouraging expressions on their faces before letting out an overdone sigh.  “I suppose it could be fun,” he joked in an unconvinced tone, and the table broke into cheers.  “Come on, did you really think I could be that much of a party pooper?” he laughed with them.

 

“You had us worried there for a moment,” Tom chuckled.

 

“So what’s the plan?” Lance spoke up.

 

“We were thinking of leaving after dinner.  That would put us there right as the night gets going,” Hans explained. 

 

Irin nodded.  “Sounds good to me.  Should we meet up for dinner at six and plan to head over at seven?” she suggested.

 

“It’s a plan,” Tom confirmed, and everyone nodded in agreement.  “I’ll see you all then.  I’ve got a few things to get done first,” he explained as he stood and scooped up his tray amidst their “see you laters.”

 

Irin sat at the table chatting good naturedly until a quarter to three when they all separated to go their own ways until dinner.  She was still chuckling when they got to the elevator from the competitive way Lance and Hans were comparing their stats on their favorite first person shooter video game.  She liked to play video games too, but these guys were on a whole different level.  She gave them a wave as they exited on the third floor, and she continued on to the seventh floor.

 

When the elevator doors opened on the familiar sight, she was immediately struck with a sour feeling.  The last time she had been up here was with Scotty while she was on probation.  Refusing to let those bad memories tarnish this place, she made her way to the training room across from the library entrance.  There was a class still finishing up so she took a seat on the floor and leaned against the wall just to the side of the entry.  She left one leg straight in front of her while she bent the other to use her knee as an arm rest as she fished out her cell to pass along a Carnival invite to Jared.  She knew it was a long shot since it was a work night for him, but it could happen. 

 

At three on the dot, the bell signaling the end of classes rang out, and the group of fourth years began to break up.  Chris’ golden blond head poked in from the hallway and he gave her a smile.  “I’ve got my stuff in the room next door.  Mind if we work over there?” 

 

“No problem,” she replied, bracing against the wall to leverage herself into a standing position.  They walked down the hall a little ways and entered a training room that was designed to mimic fighting in the field.  There were various obstacles stationed throughout two thirds of the room so students could learn both how to avoid them and how to use them to their advantage.  She smiled at all the memories she had of training up in this room just the previous year. 

 

“I hope I haven’t stolen you away from  any exciting plans on your day off,” he commented casually as he pulled a notebook from his bag at the front of the room. 

 

She chuckled at that.  “Nothing too terribly exciting, no.”  She followed him to an empty training mat in the smaller uncluttered part of the room, and they both sat down. 

 

“Have you heard about the Carnival plan for tonight?” 

 

Her eyes gleamed in anticipation.  “Yeah, I had lunch with Tom and Hans.  I can’t wait!  Are you coming, too?” 

 

He grinned at her enthusiasm.  “Of course.  I’d be hard pressed to pass up an opportunity to see what crazy antics ensue when Lance, Hans and Tom are cavorting at Carnival,” he laughed, and she joined in.  Oh, what a mental image that statement ignited                                         . 

 

“We’d better get a move on, then.  We need to get these training plans done so we can get to dinner by six,” she reminded him as her chuckles died down. 

 

“Ready when you are,” he commented, flipping open the notebook in his hand and slipping a pen from the spiral. 

 

She scooted next to him so she could read over his shoulder when her pocket vibrated and chimed.  She threw Chris a quick apologetic glance as she retrieved her cell and read the new message from Jared: I’m game.  Her grin widened, and she tapped back a response to meet for dinner at six.  Tonight was shaping up to be one to remember. 

 

“Ok,” she looked back at Chris as she slipped her cell back into her hoodie pocket, “how far have the third years gotten on third stage offensives?”

-.-

“Oy, are you going to eat those fries?” Tom called across the cafeteria table to Jace, who pushed his tray into the center of the table so anyone could reach them. 

 

“What exactly are we going to be doing at Carnival?” Xandra spoke up from between Jace and Scotty.  Irin was mildly surprised to see Xandra would be coming out with them, but she shrugged it off.

 

“It’s a Monday, so there will be a parade, as well as loads of street parties,” Hans explained, and all the table occupants broke out into devious grins. 

 

“What we’re going to do is go down there and have a good time and enjoy our night off,” Lance jumped in, slapping the table for effect and eliciting excited agreements from the rest of the table.

 

“Which Company building are we using for transit?” Jace jumped in, ever the practical one.

 

“There’s a pet store just off the parade route.  We can use it as a rendezvous point if any of us gets separated.  There’s also a dental office a couple of miles away we can use in a pinch.  We’ll get the coordinates before we leave,” Tom explained, and everyone nodded in agreement.

 

Irin reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.  “What about cell numbers so we can keep in contact?  Does everyone have everyone’s?”  Everyone except Scotty, Xandra and Jared nodded in affirmation.  “Jace, want to see which numbers those two are missing?” she asked, motioning to Xandra and Scotty. 

 

“Got it,” he replied, turning to the two next to him while Irin turned to Jared.

 

“So do you have anyone’s number, aside from mine?”

 

“Nope,” Jared shook his head.

 

Irin tapped at her cell screen rapidly for a few seconds and then slipped it back into her pocket.  “I just sent you a contact list for everyone else.  Hopefully you won’t need it, but you never know.”

 

Hans stood up and leaned forward to place his hands on the table.  “Since it looks like we’re all about done here,” he started, smiling wickedly, “I suggest we get this party on the road.” 

 

There was a chorus of agreement as everyone stood up from the table and began slinging packs on their shoulders.  Irin wasn’t too sure what the others thought was appropriate Carnival attire, but they all seemed to have had the same idea of changing once they got there.  After having seen some of the things Lance and Tom were willing to wear in public, she was pretty sure that was a good thing.   As their motley crew strode out of the cafeteria and piled into the elevator, she wondered if Rio de Janeiro was prepared for the shenanigans that were about to descend upon the city. 

-.-

“Ta-da!” Lance cried, giving a little twirl to show off his ensemble.  Irin lifted an eyebrow skeptically as she perused the silver mesh shirt and tight black metallic pants, but she had to admit the combo went well with his pale looks �" even if it would give their mother a heart attack. 

 

“Are those alligator shoes?” Chris asked incredulously from across the room. 

 

“The best money can buy,” Lance quipped, balancing one foot on the toe of the shoe so everyone could get a good look.  When it looked like Chris was about to make some comment on how that was a waste of money, he continued, “Just kidding, they’re fakes, but don’t they look amazing?”

 

“Of course they do,” Tom replied, clapping him on the shoulder, “I pointed them out to you when we were in Louisiana that one time.”  Irin glanced at Jace, and they both rolled their eyes.  It looked like both Tom and Hans had taken a page out of Lance’s dressing manual, because they both had on Latin V-neck dress shirts where the V went almost to their belly buttons.  Both had outrageous patterns on the backs, and their pants weren’t much different from Lance’s.  Irin briefly wondered if they’d had some guys night out shopping trip recently.  Luckily, it looked like the rest of the guys had gone a much more normal route with button down shirts and fitted slacks, while Xandra had opted for a flirty blue dress that came to midthigh. 

 

Bracing herself for the inevitable reactions, Irin slipped off the coat she’d donned after changing in the other room with Xandra.  Her dress was black with a deep V neckline and a short, flirty skirt that would be awesome to twirl in.  It was also far more revealing than anything she usually wore, and Xandra smiled evilly as the eyes of all the guys in the room snapped to her, and more than one wolf whistle could be heard, courtesy of Chris, Tom and Scotty. 

 

“Oh, shut up.  It’s not like you’ve never seen a girl before,” Irin snapped. 

 

“We’ve seen girls.  We just never see this girl looking like, well, a girl,” Chris teased her, and Irin took the liberty of punching him in the arm. 

 

“Are you saying I don’t look like a girl?”

 

“He’s saying you look hot!” Tom piped up, and then yelped as the twins each punched him in a shoulder.

 

“That’s our sister,” they warned menacingly. 

 

“Well, now that that’s all out of your systems, shall we go?” Irin motioned pointedly to the door, and they proceeded to file out. 

 

Jared held back so he could walk next to her as they exited the building onto a road in the middle of the hubbub of one of the huge street festivals indicative of Carnival.  He paused, momentarily distracted by the craziness of it all, before he leaned over to say, “You do look really nice, you know.” 

 

Irin ducked her head as her cheeks reddened.  “Thanks,” she replied with a small smile.  “You don’t look so bad yourself.”  He grinned in response as they worked to make their way through the crowd and keep up with their friends.  Irin glanced to her left when she someone bump into her, and as the clearly tipsy man ambled off, she caught sight of a large area filled with people samba dancing to the music floating on the night.  “Feel like dancing?” she leaned close to Jared and asked.  When he nodded in reply, she sped up so she could tap Chris on the shoulder and ask him.  He grinned and nodded as well as she continued on the catch up with everyone else. 

 

“Hey, Jace,” she said as she laid a hand on his arm, “We’ve spotted some dancing going on, so we’re going to go check it out.” 

 

Jace glanced up to see Chris and Jared would be going with her and said, “Alright, but keep your cell on just in case.”

 

“Will do, have fun!”  With that she turned to grab each of the guys by the hand and lead them to the dancing. 

 

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” Jared admitted sheepishly as he was surrounded by colorful bodies stepping and twirling. 

 

“You just have to feel it!” Irin called back as she began to move in time with the beat.  Sharing an apprehensive glance with Chris, both guys cautiously began to move their feet.  She gave a carefree laugh when they finally seemed to let go of their nerves and actually dance. 

 

None of them knew how much time they spent dancing, but by the time they were done, they had all worked up quite a sweat and fended off at least one overly-amorous dance proposition �" in Irin’s case, it had been four, but who was counting?  Chris had indicated he wanted to look for water, and so they all made their way through the crowd surrounding the dancing to a vendor.  The woman working the booth was handing Irin and opened water bottle when someone knocked forcefully into both her and the table, sending the bottle flying to spill all over the table.

 

“Hey!” Irin cried, shoving the man off her and trying to wipe some of the spilled water off her skirt.  The guy just chuckled dumbly and began to stagger off into the crowd.  She was so busy glaring daggers at him that she almost didn’t see the man standing in the shadow of another vendor.  She would have overlooked him entirely, except under his suit jacket she could see fur.  “Hey, Chris?  Do you see that guy over there?”  She pointed to the man, making sure her eyes never left him.

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

“Can you see what he’s wearing under the suit?”

 

Both Jared and Chris took a step forward to squint at him. 

 

“Is that �" ?” Jared started.

 

“Fur,” Chris confirmed, and Irin risked a look back see both guys had their brows knit in concern. 

 

“It could be nothing.  This is Carnival after all,” Jared rationalized in a far from convincing tone. 

 

“Or it could be a Stealer, in which case, we have a job to do.”

 

“But you have no idea if he’s a Stealer or not,” Chris tried, but it was too late.  Irin was already moving lithely through the crowd with an unquestionable trajectory.  Cursing softly, Jared and Chris hurried to keep up with her. 

 

Irin ducked behind another vendor booth a few yards from the man and waited for Jared and Chris to join her.  “Are you going to try to tell me any sane man would wear those oily furs on purpose?” she asked when they were close enough to see clearly. 

 

“Anything’s possible,” Chris said, “Besides, even if he is a Stealer, he’s not doing anything, and he is in a very public place.  You can’t just go take him out.”

 

“I know that!” Irin snapped.  “Get on the phone with the Company and apprise them of the situation.  Tell them he’s not doing anything for now, but we’re keeping an eye on him and we don’t know if there are any others,” she ordered while she slipped out her own phone and tapped Jace’s speed dial.  “Come on,” she whispered while she waited for him to answer.  She heard Chris talking with someone in the Company while her own call went to voicemail.  “S**t.”  She quickly ended the call and dialed Lance, but that went straight to voicemail.  “What the hell is going on?  I have to stay available by cell, but they can be unreachable?  That’s great, just f*****g great,” she growled to herself as she dialed Xandra.  “See if you can get Tom or Hans on the phone,” she called over her shoulder to Jared.  He nodded and began to tap at his phone. 

 

“Hello?”

 

“Finally!  Xandra, it’s Irin.  Are you with either of my brothers?” 

 

“Yeah, Jace is here.  Why?”

 

“Can I talk to him?  It’s important.”

 

“Sure, here.”

 

“Irin?”

 

“Jace!  We may have a problem.”  She quickly explained the situation and gave him their location.

 

“Alright, we’re coming to you.  Stay put.” 

 

“Will do.”  She hung up and turned to Chris, who was hanging up also. 

 

“They said to keep eyes on him but to stay out of sight.  They’re relaying the situation to the Sao Paolo office, which will most likely dispatch a team to take over for us.  We’ll be contacted shortly.”

 

“Sounds good.  Jace, Xandra and Scotty are on their way here.”  She turned to Jared.  “Were you able to get a hold of Tom on Hans?”

 

“No, it went straight to voicemail for Hans and Tom rang out.”

 

“I’m going to strangle them,” Irin muttered as she turned back to watch the Stealer lift his hand to mouth and begin.  She could only assume he had a walkie-talkie of some sort, but that wasn’t what caught her attention.  The motion of his arm drew the material of his jacket taught across his shoulders, presenting a clear outline of a hilt beneath the fabric.  She didn’t have to look at Jared and Chris to know they’d seen it, too. 

 

The Stealer spoke for a moment and then stepped out of the shadow of the vendor and began to move into the crowd.  “S**t, Chris, come on.  Jared, stay here and call Jace,” she ordered as she and Chris slipped out from behind the booth to follow.  Irin’s eyes never left that grey suit as they pushed through the crowd to keep up. 

 

“Irin, we’ve got company,” Chris called from behind her, and she took that moment to look both left and right.  She could see at least three other Stealers bulldozing through the people toward the same spot. 

 

“What are they heading for?” She asked, trying to see over the people in front of her. 

 

Chris, who was several inches taller, looked to their point of convergence and cursed.  “Tom, Hans and Lance.”

 

© 2012 Padfoot101